I'm working on a "bootleg" file of poems by the French poet Denis Roche. The material I have of his so far is:
3 poems in Locus Solus translated by John Ashbery
a sequence in the Paul Auster 20th Century American poetry translated by Harry Matthews
selections in Veronica Forrest-Thomson's Collected Poems
selections in one of Serge Gavronsky's books on poetry in France
more work translated by Gavronsky for the Tyuonyi "Violence of the White Page" issue
I'm writing this from work so I don't have all of the references at hand.
There's a children's book illustrator named Denis Roche who is not the same person. Our Denis Roche was an editor of Tel Quel, a translator of The ABC of Reading and I think the Cantos in to French, and is now (primarily?) a photographer -- below is one of his snaps (I'm sure he would cringe at the term):
I did find the following list of translations:
From the papers of Eric Mottram:
"French poets: Mottram manuscript essay headed 'Under the influence of Rimbaud' [1973-1978]; Mottram manuscript notes on mid-20th century French poets [1973-1978]; a section of photocopies of modern French poets' work, including Marcelin Pleynet, Denis Roche, Anne-Marie Albiach, Jean Daive [1984]"
From The Paris Review # 42: Winter-Spring 1968:
Eros Possessed: A Play
From New Observations (a journal I never heard of before):
54. Ecriture - The French Mind -
Serge Gavronsky
January/February 1988
Julia Kristeva, Anne-Marie Albiach, Ludovic Janvier, Marcelin Pleynet, Emmanuel Hocquard, Leslie Kaplan, Jacques Roubaud, Denis Roche, Martine Aballea, Denis Levaillant.
And a book published by Pennsylvania State University Press called that has a half chapter dedicated to his writing, published in 1999:
Poeticized Language
The Foundations of Contemporary French Poetry
Steven Winspur
I could probably get this last one in my library. The Paris Review issue is available cheap on abe.com.
Anyone know where the Mottram is available outside of his papers collected at King's College? Or what New Observations is all about? Also, come across any translations of Denis Roche? Interested in making some?
Articles in French by or about him online:
TROFOR > Webzine > PHOTO > C’EST MOI DENIS ROCHE
DENIS ROCHE
Le Web de l'Humanité: Denis Roche : une magie des images - Article paru le 19 avril 1999
Articles (fr) : Denis Roche - La Rage de l'expression ou le dernier des Mohicans
GRAVITATION
Lire : le magazine littéraire. L'actualité de la littérature francaise et de la littérature étrangère.
Here's another snaps: